Geological disposal of radioactive waste: underpinning science and technology

Abstract

The Royal Society of Chemistry, the Geological Society, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Nuclear Institute, the Institution of Chemical Engineers, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Mineralogical Society organized a wideranging conference themed around the geological disposal of radioactive waste from 18 th À20 th October 2011 at the Burleigh Court Conference C e n t r e , L o u g h b o r o u g h U n i v e r s i t y , Loughborough, UK. One of its principal objectives was to showcase and publish research relevant to radioactive waste storage and disposal. The event was supported by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the Energy Generation and Supply Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) for the Nuclear Sector, and kindly sponsored by AMEC and the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). The conference brought together scientists, engineers and other interested specialists to discuss the chemical, biological, geological, hydrological, materials, engineering and other scientific and technological challenges associated with the long-term management of radioactive waste in the UK. The scientific committee peerreviewed all abstracts received prior to the conference, and determined those best for oral and poster presentation. Papers presented in this issue of Mineralogical Magazine were subsequently subjected to a detailed and independent peer-review process.